Windows 7 Annoyances

So Windows 7 is a huge success, no doubt about it. But if you're coming to Windows 7 from a previous Windows version, you're going to notice a number of changes--some big, some small--and that's true if you were previously using Windows Vista, XP, or an even older version. And while Windows 7's changes are mostly improvements, unfamiliarity can lead to a loss of productivity. So if you're looking for a way to fix some of Windows 7's most obvious annoyances, or simply change some crucial feature back to the way it used to work, fear not: I've got your back.

Nah, these aren't annoyances. The thing with having multiple windows bunched into a single icon on the taskbar...who doesn't want that? If I have 10 browser windows open, I sure don't want them all cluttering my taskbar. All anyone has to do is hover over the single icon and click on the thumbnails that pop up. Big deal.

Windows 7 is an annoyance to me only because of the completely disorganized mess they made with libraries and folders. This links here, that links there, I got document folders I CAN get in, and another version of the same folder with a padlock I CAN'T get in. It's a mess, whether it's for security or not.

The whole thing is annoying, that's why I yanked it off my computer. The only good thing about windows 7, is the installation DVD makes a good coaster.

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I used to think that too. And I still find many things that are annoying. Not so much how it performs, but how they have changed some things in a most illogical manner, some of it is mentioned in this article.

But I will be honest, as an XP holdout for quite some time, I simply don't want to go back to XP now. I find too many things I would rather have that are in 7 that are not in XP. But there are plenty of things I miss about XP, most of them being what I percieve as a more intuitive and faster UI experience.

at first i agreed with Paul but now I actually like the new taskbar. makes it look alot neater. only problem is opera showing all the tabs when i click on the icon and to sort that out i have to turn off the download progress for it as well.

Havent really had any problems with windows 7 on my computers (laptop and desktop)

Sul, I'm very curious as to what functionality you favor in 7 (that's not in XP)?

Aaron

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For starters, the stability (or lack of BSOD). XP was good, and I rarely had them, but in win7, thus far, heavy tweaking and testing which I would have expected more problems from, has not. I can only compare the same things I did to XP that it did not like, the win7 handles gracefully.

I like the speed at which programs minimize/maximize. I like all the little keyboard shortcuts that interface to the aero experience. I find myself using them more and more. The snippet tool is nice.

I find myself using the libraries more, very convenient.

I find my browsers are noticably faster in win7, and I cannot explain why. If I load an XP image back on, it is very evident that win7 is faster.

I like a lot of the updated tools in win7, one example is icacls. The firewall is better. The interfaces to such things as the firewall (like netsh) are better.. more robust.

I am not one really for the 'eye candy', as I am more interested in speed and stability. However, I find myself in many situations not only enjoying some of it, but also find at times it is better.. I can't explain it, other than when I use XP I notice it.

But perhaps, most of all, it is new. I skipped vista, used it as little as possible. But with win7, I am constantly finding little things that I like.

But, there are also lots of things I don't like. There is nothing major, other than I absolutely HATE, with a very large amount of EXTRA HATE heaped on top, I mean really really HATE the new windows explorer. Personally, I think it is the biggest POS I have ever seen for a file browser. Then of course, as the article mentions, lots of little annoying 'features' that are turned on by default that I neuter right away.

Well, the hdd read/writes on my hardware are slower than XP, but perhaps I can attribute some of it to my hardware as most others say it is very fast.

Perhaps because I have been tweaking it so hard for over a month now I have made it a more docile creature. Whatever it is exactly, I simply find myself wanting it over XP now.

Well, I guess I will have to see it for myself in real life, but based on the screenshots that I´ve seen, it looks like Win 7 is in many ways a step back when it comes to the GUI, luckily you can probably reverse many of them with certain tools.

Btw, a bit OT, but I´ve noticed that Win 7 has a feature named "XP Mode" which is basically Virtual PC which lets you run XP apps not supported by Win 7. But that this mean that you will first have to boot up a whole virtual OS? It seems so silly to me.

Well, I guess I will have to see it for myself in real life, but based on the screenshots that I´ve seen, it looks like Win 7 is in many ways a step back when it comes to the GUI, luckily you can probably reverse many of them with certain tools.

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u may think that at first glance before trying, but its def an improvement for wer theyre trying to go, i dont think they are catering to the advanced crowd specifically with the GUI changes, more for relative new users who want things to be shown in a simple and pretty way but after using it for a while, i dont really have anything to complain about, GUI works great for me in every version of windows.

Btw, a bit OT, but I´ve noticed that Win 7 has a feature named "XP Mode" which is basically Virtual PC which lets you run XP apps not supported by Win 7. But that this mean that you will first have to boot up a whole virtual OS? It seems so silly to me.

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The idea of XP Mode was to make the process of using a virtual machine to run older apps transparent to the host OS. In other words after things are setup there are shortcuts on the start menu to run the legacy software and the virtual machine loads in the background so it just looks like you started an application in the host OS. I haven't tried it so don't know how well it really works and what the performance is like. Originally processor support was a requirement, but recently Microsoft dropped it. That will make XP mode more available, but I imagine performance will suffer on systems without the hardware support. I believe they are trying to make it possible for companies to use Windows 7 that rely on older software that requires XP.

@ lodore
If you mean you have to click in the taskbar and then in the thumbnail to open Opera window when having more than one tab open, there's a registry fix:

Launch regedit.exe (Win+R, then paste regedit.exe)
Navigate in the left tree control to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Go to Edit->New->DWORD (32-bit) Value
Name the value LastActiveClick
Hit enter to assign the value and change it to 1
Restart Explorer.

@ lodore
If you mean you have to click in the taskbar and then in the thumbnail to open Opera window when having more than one tab open, there's a registry fix:

Launch regedit.exe (Win+R, then paste regedit.exe)
Navigate in the left tree control to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Go to Edit->New->DWORD (32-bit) Value
Name the value LastActiveClick
Hit enter to assign the value and change it to 1
Restart Explorer.

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hmm what does that change actually do? any links?
I don't like opera showing all the tabs when I click on the icon when it is running but if i disable the windows 7 integration in opera I also lose the download indicator in the tray icon.

hmm what does that change actually do? any links?
I don't like opera showing all the tabs when I click on the icon when it is running but if i disable the windows 7 integration in opera I also lose the download indicator in the tray icon.

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It is a great registry trick. Let's say you got 3 Google Chrome tabs open. Clicking on the taskbar opens up last active tab, instead of displaying the Aero Peek. Just hovering brings up the Aero Peek with the 3 tabs. Really makes navigating around go faster.